The Israeli Knesseth late last night approved the budget submitted by Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan, but limited its approval to one month, stipulating that the finance committee of the Knesseth should work out details of the budget for the full three-month period and submit its report next week for further study.
In proposing the budget, Kaplan said that almost the entire burden of the recent war was met by the Israeli Government without any outside assistance. This put a heavy financial burden on Israel, he said, although only about 20 percent of last year’s national income–some 140,000,000 to 150,000,000,Israeli pounds–was received by the state as taxes. The average per capita tax, he revealed, was approximately 27 pounds.
Kaplan also disclosed that the Israeli Government plans soon to submit a series of proposals to combat the high cost of living and inflation which will, he pointed out, place a heavy burden on all citizens. The government will soon allocate the necessary land areas for large-scale building programs which will begin in earnest in April.
Kaplan also revealed that a special fund to aid Arabs living in Israel will soon be established by the government and will be designed to assist Arabs displaced in the Jewish state to find employment.
A large group of United States capitalists is planning to establish a mortgage bank here soon, according to Abraham Zabarsky, treasurer of the Ministry of Defense, who returned to Israel this week after a tour abroad of several weeks.
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